The present invention relates to equipment that is intended for applying a blank of foil to bottles and that includes a turntable with several separately controlled devices around its circumference for rotating the bottles, at least one labeling station for transferring the foil blanks (and other labels if desired) to the bottles once the rotation devices have positioned the bottles at a specific angle, an application device that presses the blanks (or other labels) onto the bottles, a rotating transport star that has accommodations 11 for the bottles and is positioned downstream of the turntable and upstream of a conveyor belt that carries the bottles away, and a supporting stand that is positioned in the vicinity of the star and has a rotating transfer-and-application device consisting of several similar units distributed around its circumference with elements that fold and press down the ends of the blank extending beyond the head of each bottle.
Every unit in the equipment for applying a blank of foil to bottles that is known from German Offenlegungsschrift 3 104 807 can, as the transport star rotates be pivoted from one position beside its associated bottle accommodation into another position above the associated accommodation and axially lowered in the second position against the head of a bottle that is secured in the accommodation. The folding element in each unit consists of a wrapping mechanism and the pressing element of a pressure-application head that is positioned downstream of it along the direction of pivot out of the first and into the second position and that surrounds the head of the bottle on all sides as it is lowered. Folding and pressing elements of this type are completely appropriate for what is called corner foiling, in which square blanks are applied to the neck and head of a bottle in such a way that one corner of the blank extends down and one corner up and beyond the head of the bottle. When, however, what is called round foiling, in which a rectangular blank is applied in a horizontal position around an upright bottle, is desired, the end of the foil that extends up like a sleeve beyond the head of the bottle can only be wrapped around the head by folding it down from one side and then wrapping it around the head from the other side. Each unit in the known equipment is accordingly pivoted out of its initial position into a third position facing both the first and the second position and provided with an additional wrapping mechanism that has the same radial dimensions as the sleeve-like projecting end of the the blank. Since the folding and pressure-application elements in the known equipment are thus combined into one subassembly, it would be highly desirable to optimize the folding-in process, specifically both preliminary and final folding, along with the process of pressing down the blank. Since the units in the known equipment are articulated to the supporting stand in such a way as to arrive, as they revolve along with the folding and pressure-application elements, at the points on the turntable determined by the rotation devices on the turntable, the breakage or tilting of a bottle in the area of engagement between the turntable or a centering hood associated with it and the folding and pressure-application elements can lead to jamming and operational malfunction, especially bending of and/or damage to the pressure-application elements, impeding the unobjectionable application of the foil. This is a special drawback because the pressure-application head is combined as mentioned in the foregoing with the folding elements. The requisite vertical motion and simultaneous control of the pivoting motion of the pressure-application elements along with the comparatively high number of pressure-application heads, which must equal the number of accommodations in the transport star, makes the equipment very expensive, the more so in that the supporting stand and output star must be driven in conjunction, so that, when the folding and pressure-application elements are changed, and hence the supporting stand re-adapted, the output star must also be replaced.